I got married winter break of 3L year. I think this was the best time because school is not that big of a deal anymore, and you are not worried about studying for the bar. Also, if you are concerned about having your law license/ law degree in your married name, this gives you time to still get it done without being charged a fee. In my case, in Texas, all of the paperwork for this was due on February 1 (both for my school and for the State Bar). I got married at the beginning of January.

Don't discount your experience. Learn all you can about the software, and do a great job so that you have 2 great references while looking for permanent employment. I had a similar situation (except I was at a low T! school) and I only made $10.00 an hour. But I have three references for the rest of my legal career and an extended family with the lawyers that I worked with.

I attend a T4 and this summer I landed a job working for a solo as a legal clerk. The pay is $11 an hour which isnt much, but I actually feel lucky because alot of my friends with better grades had to take non-legal jobs paying less. The job is unlikely to lead to perm. employment as its a small office with 2 solos working there but I feel fortunate getting some form of income AND gaining legal experience.

Even though the work is not the most intellectually stimulating, I am learning how a law office operates and witnessing life as a lawyer first hand IE. the hours, the stress, and the rewards. I am also gaining experience with legal software which appears to be necessities for many legal jobs, IE. abacus, word perfect, legal solutions.

My question is will such work experience look good on my resume for OCI or even when I pursue 2L employment? I realize my options coming from a T4 are limited so I am not seeking a big law gig. Will this experience illustrate to potential employers that I have some legal experience and perhaps put me at some advantage compared to my peers?

Take the bar in July. That is what you were prepared to do. Stay focused, and make the best of the time that you do have. Several of my classmates were pregnant--one of them even gave birth while studying for the bar (in early July), both still took the bar and passed. In life, there is always something going on--there's no getting around it. You just have to keep moving forward. Good luck!

I'm have a state court clerkship beginning in August, and I'm not required to be admitted to any state bar for the clerkship.

I've spent a lot of time in the last month trying to find housing in the state where the clerkship is and preparing for the next clerkship application season (e.g. researching judges, getting letters of recommendation lined up).

Suppose that, at the end of July, I don't feel completely ready to take the Bar. Bad idea to take the February Bar instead?

The main thing is making sure you get in enough practice and having a structured review over all of the topics. You don't want to do overkill on classes--you need time to digest outside of class, similar to what goes on in law school. An hour prepping outside of class is just as important as an hour spent in class. Also, the Conviser should be fine for most of your studies. Most of the rules you need to know will prob. be there.

Question for those of you who took BarBri: would you say knowing the outlines in the Conviser book (I think that's what it's called) cold is all that you need to know to pass, or is it a must to study cover to cover the in-depth outlines in the other books as well? I ask because someone - who passed the bar the first time - said that all he did was study the Conviser to get the substantive law down cold, and the rest of the time, he just did practice essays/MBE questions. I hope what he said is true, for it seems downright impossible to memorize all of the stuff in the 8 BarBri books. It would also help ease the pressure, for I have to go out of town 5 days before the bar exam, and won't return until the Sunday before the bar exam; I plan on studying by listening the audio lectures I have uploaded to my iPod, and I'm hoping that is enough.

The thicker outlines are just more narrative than Conviser, but it's all the same thing. You should memorize Conviser and only look to the thick outlines if you don't understand something or if you missed a lecture. Otherwise, Conviser plus MBE practice should be enough.

Which Bar are you taking?

I'm taking the Nevada bar. And thank you to those of you who responded to my question. I figured that the Conviser would be more than sufficient, considering that the Conviser is pretty thick itself. I'm going to try to not stress so much - this is why I dropped the Essay Advantage course (taking 3 courses is definitely overkill!). And I'm going to try to focus on writing practice essays (and practicing some MBE questions via my Study Smart software on my laptop) during my trip than on relying solely on my iPod lectures. Again, thank you to all of you for your insights; helps lessen my anxiety a bit.

I would emphasize making sure you get enough practice in your weak areas. And writing practice essays and doing practice questions is critical. After awhile, you will be able to know how to structure an essay in an organized fashion to get the max possible points. That in and of itself, will make you feel better on the essay parts of the exam.

This is so true. That church announcements part is funny. Now imagine being the first lady of a church and passing the bar--they had a party for me and everything! However, it is a major accomplishment.

There appears to be several lawyers who read this blog, so I’m sure they’ll really appreciate this post. It is also a self-congratulatory message for myself. If some of you don’t like, I don’t care if you complain or allege the post is weak.

For those EBP who manage to survive law school, graduation comes with feelings of mixed emotions. Of course they are happy to be done with the 3 year ass whipping that is law school, but are also dreading the preparation to study for the Bar exam.

During the time when an EBP is studying for the Bar, they will not be visible to their social circle, unless it consists of other EBP studying for the Bar. Many of you may not even know your EBP friend is studying for the Bar. There is good reason for this. An EBP will not tell many people that he/she is studying for the Bar, because the next thing out of the other person’s mouth will be, “When are the results coming out?” I hated that question. It’s like saying, “Let me know, so I can talk about you behind your back if you fail.”

In contrast, once an EBP has passed the Bar, all hell breaks out. Everybody in the world will know. It will be in theie status on Facebook, AIM or whatever instant message program they use. If you know an EBP who took the Bar and passed, you will probably be part of a mass text message informing you of their passing. The pastor will announce it in church and their parents will call every relative they hate or never talked to, to rub it in their faces.

The pressure will now be on for the new attorney to wear business attire everyday and distribute business cards to every person they meet. Don’t talk about them though, they deserve to relish in the glory for a while. However, if they’re still doing a little too much after a month or so, tell them to give it a rest.